Chapter 6: Li Guang's Banquet

  Li Guang was a straightforward and generous person. He cut up the whole sheep with just a few knives and threw it into the pot to cook. This opened up Yun Xiao's eyes, as he had heard of roasting a whole sheep but not boiling one.

  The mutton soup with a strong smell that assaulted the nostrils, apart from Li Guang, only Xiao Bai drank it happily. Seeing Xiao Bai still having an appetite and gesturing for more, Yun Xiao handed over a piece of tender and delicious mutton, just right for someone in their growing years to eat as much as they could.

  Xiaobai let out a low murmur as if to express gratitude, then continued to wrestle with the mutton.

  Old Li watched Yun Xiao drink the mutton soup like medicine, and couldn't help but feel puzzled.

  "Cloud Strongman, but this dish doesn't suit my taste?"

  Yun Xiao looked at her own slender arms and legs, no matter how she couldn't associate herself with the two words "strong man". She took out a packet of seasonings from her backpack. She pulled out a military dagger and in three or four cuts, she sharpened the chopsticks into a sharp point.

  Cut a few pieces of mutton, strung on chopsticks. Placed at the edge of the fire to roast, while flipping and sprinkling seasonings. Before long, the strong cumin flavor filled the entire General's Mansion.

  Li Guang's curiosity turned into astonishment. He sniffed his nose and squatted in front of Yun Xiao, a string of Xinjiang kebabs that had not been fully cooked was snatched away by Li Guang impatiently. After eating just one piece, he closed his eyes to savor it, and after three or two mouthfuls, only the skewer was left. He patted Yun Xiao's shoulder, urging him to hurry up and grill more.

  Next to him, a little mustachioed man in armor handed over strings of good mutton.

  Yun Xiao smiled politely at Little Whiskers, who chuckled and said: "I am Li Gan."

  It turned out that the withered man was shot dead by Huoqu Bing, and Yun Xiao took over the skewers of mutton to continue roasting.

  Lao Li's appetite is great, the chopsticks are already in short supply, now the arrow rod has become a new generation of barbecue tool, no need to wear too much meat. But when will it be cooked if you wear half a catty of meat at once? Yun Xiao handed over the barbecue work to Little Li, his mother's old man is not Buyantai Uncle who sells mutton skewers on the street.

  Obviously, Little Li was inexperienced in BBQ for the first time. Seeing Old Li gasping with his mouth open, Yun Xiao knew that too much chili powder had been added and a big gulp of wine went down. Old Li let out a big breath "Refreshing, damn refreshing."

  "Yun Zhuangshi, please wait for two more days in Mayi, and the head of Zuo's great captain will be sent to the imperial court. There will naturally be rewards."

  Old Li slapped Little Li on the back of his hand for not being good at roasting kebabs and went patrolling around the city, rubbing his belly.

  "Cloud brother, what is this red thing? How come after eating it feels like being on fire, and its shape looks like... won't kill people if eaten?"

  Xiao Li's brain development is clearly lagging behind his body, no wonder he was killed by Huoqu disease. Laozi ran to your home to poison your father, isn't this the rhythm of seeking death? Do you think Laozi is a dead soldier or something?

  Ignoring the slightly foolish Little Li, Yun Xiao hurriedly roasted a few strings for himself. There wasn't much lamb left, and next to him stood another robust Little Li; if he didn't act quickly, only sheep bones would be left.

  The BBQ was dry, but then he took a sip of the fine wine from Little Li's mouth. Yun Xiao spat it out immediately, this damn thing was basically dishwater, and the murky liquid looked more like urine.

  He pulled out a one-catty bottle of Red Star Er Guo Tou from his backpack and took a small sip. Xiao Li's sense of smell was extremely developed, and he greedily stared at the wine bottle in Yun Xiao's hand after catching a whiff of the liquor's aroma.

  Unable to withstand Xiao Li's gaze, Yun Xiao handed over the bottle of Erguotou he had been drinking from.

  Xiao Li took it over, leaned in close to the bottle and smelled it. He tilted his head back and took a long swig of water, ah, the 52-degree Red Star Er Guan Tou was quite something! Yun Xiao was looking forward to seeing Xiao Li's next reaction.

  Xiao Li's face turned from yellow to red, then purple, his body swaying left and right. His footsteps were like a dreamy illusion, as if he had the aura of Michael Jackson.

  Little Li, walking with a space step in the yard, his Adam's apple kept bobbing up and down. It was clear that his stomach couldn't adapt to such high-purity liquor, and he was strongly suppressing his stomach's protests.

  Xiao Li is persisting, persisting and persisting again.

  He couldn't hold it in, and the pressure in his stomach shot out a meter or more of liquor.

  The dreamy footsteps didn't stop, Little Li started boxing while drunk, his hoarse voice shouting with all his might had a bit of the flavor of a dynamic train.

  The nearby military school scattered and fled, Xiao Bai was so scared that he dropped the mutton and ran into Yun Xiao's arms, vigilantly watching the swaying Little Li. Liu Cheng hurriedly took Yun Xiao away to avoid being affected. He didn't believe that Yun Xiao was there to harm this young general.

  They arrived at the inn, and Liu Cheng had someone bring over some food. Earlier, Liu Cheng had seen clearly that Yun Xiao hadn't eaten his fill. The bland and tasteless noodles, Yun Xiao ate two mouthfuls before he couldn't eat anymore.

  "Doesn't this dish suit your taste, Second Brother? I've asked them to change it."

  "No, Brother Liu, is there a lack of salt in the army too? Why is this food so bland?"

  "Cloud brother, you don't know that the salt in the army is all transported from Chang'an after a long journey. The road is long and winding, with thieves and bandits lurking along the way. Sometimes they even dare to rob military salt, and Guanzhong and Longyou have been short of salt since ancient times. Several salt mines have been mined for hundreds of years, resulting in severe shortages."

  "Guanzhong is far from the sea, and transporting salt is indeed not easy. In fact, lack of salt was also one of the reasons for the weakness of the Han army. If it weren't for the lack of salt, our Han army wouldn't have been defeated by the Xiongnu people."

  "Don't the Xiongnu people lack salt?"

  "I don't know about this, but they seem to have enough salt, there are only a few people on the grasslands. Five years ago, I had 300,000 households in Maiyi, with a population of one million. I'm afraid it's more than the total population of Xiongnu, and the demand for salt that year was staggering. The court encourages private transportation of salt, but the road is long and thieves are numerous, not to mention private salt, even official salt is being robbed. My people in Guanzhong and Longyou are suffering."

  "Is private salt smuggling permitted by the imperial court?"

  In the past, every dynasty prohibited private salt smuggling, which is why there were people like Cheng Yaojin. I never thought that today's imperial court would actually encourage private salt smuggling.

  "My younger brother passed by a salt flat, where the salt flat stretched as far as the eye could see."

  "Yun Brother said it's Guī Yán Tān, eating salt there will kill people."

  "I have a way to make the salt there edible and definitely won't kill anyone."

  "Really?"

  Liu Cheng's eyes lit up in an instant, how could he not be clear about the huge profit inside?

  "Really."

  "My brother will impart this technique to me; I guarantee you a marquisate and an estate of at least 500 households."

  "Enfeoffment?"

  Yun Xiao didn't think that being enfeoffed as a marquis had much benefit, it was just an honorary title, not as good as real gold and silver.

  Yun Xiao hesitated, and Liu Cheng hastily added, "To be honest with you, I am the second son of Liu Chong, the current Zongzheng Temple Master. The current Emperor is my uncle. My guarantee is absolutely effective, and I can also give you two percent of the shares, how about it?"

  It turns out to be the second generation of officials, no, it's the second generation of emperors. No wonder they have such a big tone. Two shares are already a great advantage, and having no roots in the Han Dynasty is a good thing, but if the benefits are too great, people will die. Li Ka-shing once said that participating in shares is good, don't control shares.

  "Since Brother Liu is being polite, I shouldn't be too humble."

  "So what shall we do now?"

  "I still have some things for Brother Liu to prepare."

  "It doesn't matter what others say."

  Yun Xiao dictated and Liu Cheng recorded quickly on silk fabric a long string of words.

  The kids are always carefree, Wei Qing and his younger sister Wei Zifu were playing with Xiao Bai. It's good to let this little guy exercise during the day, otherwise he won't sleep at night and will catch mice everywhere. Yun Xiao doesn't want to see a few dead mice by her head every morning.

  Take advantage of having time to hastily pack up the things in your backpack.

  A set of camouflage uniforms, a military dagger and a Swiss army knife. A multi-functional engineer shovel, no food left, half a bag of monosodium glutamate and half a bag of salt. Oh, the Chaotian chili pepper I bought in Xishuangbanna is still here, this thing is very spicy. Yun Xiao bought a big bag at Miao Village, planning to plant it back home. My wife loves eating spicy hot pot, this thing is the best choice to please her.

  Missing his wife and son from another world, Yun Xiao's expression couldn't help but turn desolate.

  In two months, my son will take the middle school entrance exam. I don't know if my own situation will affect his studies or whether he can get into a good high school.

  Dad has been a professor of Chinese department for his whole life and should be able to tutor his son.

  Thinking of my aging parents, the swirling smoke rings turned a little red. After so many years of running around, I haven't even taken good care of my filial piety. The child wants to support, but the parents won't wait. Ah, no, it's not that they're not here, it's that I'm not here myself.

  Collecting while shedding tears

  "Missing home?" Wei Shu walked up to Yun Xiao's side

  "Alright."

  "Alas, he went to the Xiongnu side. Out of ten people, not all ten will return, and if you can come back, it's a blessing. Alright, child, it's dark, go wash up and sleep."

  This night, clouds howl in dreams, father, mother and wife appear alternately.

  Cloud whispers, dreaming of herself making a big table of dishes, the whole family gathered together to eat. The scene is warm and touching, her son holding a trotter gnawing with oil flowing from his mouth, not letting his grandfather pour wine.

  Dad's wine glass was greasy from his son's hands, and when he picked it up, it slipped and fell. He quickly leaned in to suck up the spilled wine on the table with his mouth.

  "Guizhou Maotai, this lifetime can't drink much."

  Yun Xiao laughed, tears and smile blooming on her face at the same time.

  Suddenly the sky and earth shook violently, Yun Xiao opened his eyes, and a big face full of sneers appeared in front of him.